Quote of the Day

Black immigrants often have a leg up on American blacks as well.  They have arrived from societies where they enjoyed equality without regard to color.  Thus they arrive with great assets, skills, and experiences, allowing them to compete in the American marketplace.  These black immigrants faced no color barriers to human capital like those we face in America.  Neither can we discount the exotic appeal of foreign blackness.  Many white folk find it far more attractive to deal with a black person from the Caribbean or Africa than American blacks.  Foreign blacks lack the common history of oppression that binds black Americans together.  That difference is a big one for white folk.  You don't feel the sort of pressure of history when you encounter many of those immigrant blacks.  Neither do you feel the sort of white racial guilt you may experience in the presence of American blacks.

-- Michael Eric Dyson, Tears We Cannot Stop, p. 209